Just your average wanderlust yogi traveling whenever I can and embracing new adventures, documenting each step of the way

Paris!

Bonjour! Our last stop on our incredible Euro trip was Paris. Since it was our last trip after three months of traveling all over, we had limited funds and were only able to spend two days and one night in France. I had heard that taking a train to Paris from London was much cheaper than a flight would be, however I found it to be the opposite. Being low on money we wanted to make this trip as cheap as possible so I looked at all options: train, bus, airplane, and combinations of the three, but flying was the cheapest route I could find, surprisingly. We flew out early Saturday morning and used their underground rail system from the airport into the city. We stayed at Le Village Boutique Hostel, which was really great! They had a main common room area with free wifi, a kitchen with free coffee and a refrigerator for you to store food if you felt like cooking for yourself. There was also a bar/little restaurant attached to it! We booked a four bedroom private room for Alexis, Nicolette and myself; it was really nice. The beds, toilets and sink were all very clean, and we were lucky enough to be put with a laid back girl as our forth roommate. For the three of us to stay for one night it came out to be 25 Euros each, which was exactly what we were looking to spend to stay on budget. The hostel was in a great location, too. It was about a 10-minute walk to Montmartre, which has an incredible view of the city, and the same distance in the opposite direction to the Moulin Rouge! From the Moulin Rouge it was a15-minute walk to the Louvre, and from there it was an additional 15-20 minutes to the Eiffel Tower. Visiting the Louvre was really cool! Being able to say that I have seen the original Mona Lisa and statue of Venus de Milo is so amazing! It was awesome to look at the Mona Lisa and think that Leonardo Da Vinci had held that painting with his own two hands at one point in time. From there we walked down to the Arc de Triomphe and were able to see the city lit up with Christmas lights! It was so beautiful! From there we headed over to the famed and magnificent Eiffel Tower. The three of us just could not believe that we were in Paris and seeing it with our own two eyes instead of in movies or pictures. It was a moment filled with immense gratitude that’s for sure. I have been so blessed these past three months, being able to travel Europe and England and see so many beautiful things, going to the Eiffel Tower was the cherry on top of the most delicious cake I have ever had. For a long time we sat on a bench just staring at it all lit up, taking in each wonderful minute and talking about how grateful and lucky we were to be in good company in front of something so breathtaking. We stayed to see it sparkle and shine, which was GORGEOUS! If you make it to Paris one day, be sure to watch that! It happens every hour after the sun goes down. From there we walked back towards our hostel, grabbed some dinner and a few bottles of wine to prepare for the night!

Top of Montmartre

On Sunday we started the day off a delicious breakfast right across the street from the Montmartre, followed by a hike up to the stunning view of Paris, which is well worth the climb! Afterwards we headed to Le Puces de Saint-Ouen at Porte de Clignancourt, the biggest market in Paris. I was a little disappointed with the vendors to be honest. They were all selling the same things, there didn’t seem to be anything unique about it, which is what I have loved about the other markets I went to. I recommend visiting a different market if you are interested in that sort of thing. However, I will say there was a really cool part of it that was selling vintage furniture! If I were living in Paris I would definitely head to that market to find some cool pieces for my home. Other than that, the vendors were very pushy and aggressive, which made us feel uncomfortable at times, and like I said there wasn’t anything unique being sold, so we got bored pretty quick and headed back towards the Eiffel Tower one last time to see it during the day (and, of course, to strike a few yoga poses;)) then it was back to good ol’ London Town.